Create multiple full backups on external bootable USB drive?

I am evaluating TI. While looking for backup software, what I really wanted was to use an external USB drive, have the backup software perform full backups on a regular scheduled basis (monthly for example), with incremental and/or differential backups on a daily or even hourly basis. In the event that the internal boot drive dies, I would first install a new internal hard drive but set my bios to boot from the external USB drive and use the recovery software from the manufacturer to select which of my full backups to use for recovery as well as select any incremental/differential backups that may have been done after that full backup. The recovery software then would copy over the full backup and incremental/differential backups and then set the master boot record on the internal drive. I would then reboot but set my bios to boot from the internal drive.

This has got to be the most basic process that any intelligent backup/recovery software has to deal. Simple and easy. Yet I have not found that True Image is capable of this? It appears that you need to create a bootable CD and boot from that to run the recovery program. You must be kidding. Why would you develop software that cannot boot from an external USB drive when most new bios' support that today? I read a posting on this forum that it is because Windows isn't capable of booting from a USB drive? Huh?? What does that have to do with buying a third party backup/recovery application? Nothing. I expect that Acronis writes their own recovery software that doesn't need Windows. It boots and does its thing. Why on earth would you force people to write to a CD/DVD when those things are going the way of floppy disks? CDs/DVDs can get scratched, become unreadable, and get lost. All you are doing is adding one more source of failure into the backup/recovery process.

I am not asking to "clone" my internal hard drive. I want to keep on-going full backups as well as differential/incremental backups. In fact, my 500 GB hard drive is large enough for storing additional stuff that isn't necessary for backups, so I would expect the backup software to allow me to use the free space as I please.

Honestly, is this asking too much? If it is, please point me to backup/recovery software on the market that can handle these requirements.

 

There's a whole thread on how to make an external usb drive bootable in the True Image environment.

 

I agree there are whole threads about this.

In short backing up to USB and restoring to USB cab be made to work if you have the right drivers loaded.

These drivers can be loaded onto a DVD which allow the USB drive to work. Or the drivers can be loaded onto a bootable USB drive. Mudcrab has excellent tutorials how to do this.

http://www.purviancecs.com/acronis.htm

 

Here are several more links. Though they're written mainly for flashdrives, they can also be used for USB hard drives (you'd probably want to format NTFS). The Grub4DOS method is especially nice because of its great flexibility and it doesn't require you to reformat the drive.

Alternate methods of booting Acronis programs from flashdrives can be found here:
Create a Bootable Flashdrive Using Vista's DISKPART Program
Create a Bootable Flashdrive Using Grub4DOS

 

Hello all,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image

Polaris431,

I can add that we have the appropriate article in our Knowledge Base, it is available here.

Thank you.

--
Oleg Lee